After their midweek flight to Bristol was diverted to Cardiff, Jose Mourinho was taking no chances for Manchester United's trip to Leicester.

Hours before Carabao Cup holders United crashed out of the quarter-finals to Bristol City, the team suffered travel turmoil when their plane had to land in the Welsh capital due to adverse weather conditions.

And although the expected journey time is just 15 minutes from Manchester to Leicester, Mourinho's men boarded a private chartered jet to make the 69-mile trip to East Midlands Airport on Friday.

United will be looking to close the gap on title rivals Manchester City when they take on the Foxes in Saturday's late 7.45pm kick-off.

Jose Mourinho's men took a flight to Leicester on Friday (Image: Eamonn and James Clarke)

United's squad were hit by problems earlier in the week when their flight was diverted to Cardiff (Image: Eamonn and James Clarke)

United are without some key names as they look to beat Leicester (Image: Eamonn and James Clarke)

Manager Mourinho confirmed Valencia is sidelined with a hamstring injury, while appearing to rule midfielders Carrick and Fellaini out of the festive period.

Centre-back Eric Bailly is undergoing surgery on an ankle issue, but Paul Pogba is available for the Premier League once again having returned from his three-match domestic suspension in the Carabao Cup loss at Bristol City.

Mourinho, meanwhile, has labelled Manchester United's Premier League rivals as "privileged" and insists his side have been "punished by the calendar."

The Red Devils site second in the league, 11 points adrift of leaders Manchester City heading into the festive gauntlet of fixtures.

Starting with Leicester away, United face four games in 10 days and Mourinho insists not only are others "privileged" but that United are in the bottom group and most challenged by the calendar.

"We did the simple objective study on that and there is a really big gap between some clubs and other clubs," Mourinho told reporters.

(Image: Dan Mullan)

(Image: Action Plus)

"There are clearly the ones that are really privileged and there are clearly another group of the ones that are really punished by the decisions of the calendar and there are another group in the middle of it where I would like to be.

"I know I would never be in the top group, but in the middle group we would like to be."